Help! 5R55E. Reverse doesn’t work. Cannot shift into first

[Mendoza_53]

The other day I put it into reverse and almost immediately it had a loud clunk and it was basically in neutral. Park, drive and 2nd work fine but reverse doesn't work and it doesn't sift into 1st. It has enough fluid the filter is new. I checked the reverse servo and it didn't seem broken. I pushed into the hole and saw the band engage. But I was thinking it could be just shaven enough that it doesn't catch the band. But that wouldn't explain why it doesn't let me shift into first.Any Ideas?

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

The other day I put it into reverse and almost immediately it had a loud clunk and it was basically in neutral. Park, drive and 2nd work fine but reverse doesn't work and it doesn't sift into 1st. It has enough fluid the filter is new. I checked the reverse servo and it didn't seem broken. I pushed into the hole and saw the band engage. But I was thinking it could be just shaven enough that it doesn't catch the band. But that wouldn't explain why it doesn't let me shift into first.Any Ideas?

Trying to think of what this issue could be… by no 1st gear, do you mean manually shifting into “1” or also no 1st while in Drive?

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

I ask this because from what I know about these transmissions, the servo for reverse is also used for low gear. Not drive, just the manual 1st gear position with engine braking. So if that servo has blown or been damaged, you will lose both reverse and low. The servos are both right near the exhaust, and they over time will cook and brittle the seals, eventually causing failure. The fact these transmissions run rather hot doesn’t help the case either.

If that’s not the case, and you still have low/engine braking, then I would suspect valve body. The 5r55e transmissions, especially earlier models, had a known issue (and a TSB issued) where the valve body gasket or seperator plate would blow out in one or more spots, causing a loss of line pressure and missing/poor gears.

 

[Mendoza_53]

So while in drive all gears work. But when manually selecting first the column shifter doesn’t let me select it. It stops at second and doesn’t go farther than that. If it was the servo would it still allow me to shift into reverse but not do anything? Also if it is the reverse servo would it be just replacing the O-rings and gasket on it? I tried looking for a new one but I couldn’t really find anything from my usual stores.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

So while in drive all gears work. But when manually selecting first the column shifter doesn’t let me select it. It stops at second and doesn’t go farther than that. If it was the servo would it still allow me to shift into reverse but not do anything? Also if it is the reverse servo would it be just replacing the O-rings and gasket on it? I tried looking for a new one but I couldn’t really find anything from my usual stores.

Oh interesting… it physically keeps you from going into it. Let me think.